Detective Daryl Turner with the Portland Police Bureau’s Drugs & Vice Division has a, um, warm holiday wish for much of Portland’s media, via the Portland Police Association’s latest newsletter:

Hoping the witch hunters enjoy their holidays

Chief Rosie Sizer joined us during our November Executive Board meeting. During the Chief’s visit, we talked about a number of issues including racial profiling, the James Chasse incident, and use of force issues, as well as our relationship with the local media, namely The Oregonian and The Portland Tribune. No matter which of these issues we talk about, there is no question in my mind that the media plays a vital part in how the public perceives the Portland Police Association and its officers.

I’m sure that I am not the only one who realizes that The Oregonian and The Portland Tribune take every opportunity to villainize Portland cops.

There’s a big difference between reporting on issues and incidents of interest and taking every opportunity to report inaccurate and untimely articles. There are certain reporters who think nothing of writing an article regarding current investigations of officers. They do this without regard for the officer’s family, even before the officer is found to have done anything wrong. They do this without concern of compromising the investigation and then they say that their sources come from within the Police Bureau. I don’t know what information comes out of anywhere else in the Police Bureau, but I do know that as for PPA members, we should be unified in not talking to the media outside of our job-related duties. Robert King speaks for the members of the PPA when the media needs comments regarding an issue or incident.

Except when Robert King never calls you back. But that’s the topic of another essay, I’m sure.

Turner goes on (the entire essay is after the cut) about how editors and writers need to “take into consideration the ramifications each individual officer, their spouses, their children, and other family members may suffer if not given the benefit of the doubt.” I’m all for respecting the cops, and trying to get an accurate sense of the difficulties of their job—as a whole, we here at the Portland Mercury (at least in the news department) like the police, and appreciate hearing their point of view. But it’s our job to ask the tough questions—it’s not our job to give cops a pass because they wear a blue uniform, and should therefore be implicitly trusted and given the benefit of the doubt.

I’d also like to point out to Turner that his description of cops—how they’re always on duty, watching over those backstabbing editors and writers—reads a lot like the description of a reporter.

Police officers that work weekends, holidays, birthdays and anniversaries. Police officers that miss sporting events, school events and quiet dinners at home with their families and friends (yes we have families and friends). Police officers that stand out in the rain, expose themselves to physical dangers, health hazards and emotional abuse are out there doing their job to the best of their ability no matter what is written about them. No matter how inaccurate, untimely or malicious the articles may be.

Every one of those rings true to me, save for the missed sporting and school events. But I don’t have kids yet.

Finally, I find it ironic that Turner’s telling the media how to do our job—questioning the timeliness of stories and what’s worth writing about, accusing us of writing purposefully inaccurate stories—in the same newsletter that printed a letter to the editor that said in part “No one would tell a firefighter where to put the water on a house fire. The idea sounds crazy. Yet, as we all know, everyone wants to tell us how to do our job. I have thought about that issue for many years. Why do people think they know our job better than we do?”

Hoping the witch hunters enjoy their holidays Chief Rosie Sizer joined us during our November Executive Board meeting. During the Chief's visit, we talked about a number of issues including racial profiling, the James Chasse incident, and use of force issues, as well as our relationship with the local media, namely The Oregonian and The Portland Tribune. No matter which of these issues we talk about, there is no question in my mind that the media plays a vital part in how the public perceives the Portland Police Association and its officers.

I'm sure that I am not the only one who realizes that The Oregonian and The Portland Tribune take every opportunity to villainize Portland cops.

There's a big difference between reporting on issues and incidents of interest and taking every opportunity to report inaccurate and untimely articles. There are certain reporters who think nothing of writing an article regarding current investigations of officers. They do this without regard for the officer's family, even before the officer is found to have done anything wrong. They do this without concern of compromising the investigation and then they say that their sources come from within the Police Bureau. I don't know what information comes out of anywhere else in the Police Bureau, but I do know that as for PPA members, we should be unified in not talking to the media outside of our job-related duties. Robert King speaks for the members of the PPA when the media needs comments regarding an issue or incident.

Don't misunderstand my intent; the majority of the media in this city are fair for the most part and respectful. We all know which individuals out there are cop-haters. We need to cut off those who try to hurt us just to sell newspapers. I know that the Chief's office won't cut off these individuals because it's not good public relations to do so. So we need to lead the way when it comes to protecting our members and their families and when it comes to the type of information we give out to the media.

During this nation's earlier years, there was a practice called witch hunting. Designated village elders would take accused witches, totally submerge their bodies under water and if their bodies floated to the top of the water, then they were witches. If they drowned, then they weren't. I thought we had come away from those types of practices in this country, but to read the local newspaper articles related to police issues, maybe we haven't.

So as the editors and writers for the local newspapers sleep in their homes and enjoy the holidays with family and friends, I hope they remember that unseen and unheard unless needed or called upon, police officers are protecting them every hour of every day. Police officers that work weekends, holidays, birthdays and anniversaries. Police officers that miss sporting events, school events and quiet dinners at home with their families and friends (yes we have families and friends). Police officers that stand out in the rain, expose themselves to physical dangers, health hazards and emotional abuse are out there doing their job to the best of their ability no matter what is written about them. No matter how inaccurate, untimely or malicious the articles may be.

We are still sworn to an oath of honor, dignity and fairness to everyone, no matter who they are, what they look like or where they live. Maybe the next time an article in a local paper is written, the editors and writers will take into consideration the ramifications each individual officer, their spouses, their children and other family members may suffer if not given the benefit of the doubt.